


Love Is Love (Love Is Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Remix)

by IreneADonovan



Series: Remixes 2018 [3]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deaf!Erik, M/M, autistic!Charles, gypsy used as a slur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 02:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15257724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IreneADonovan/pseuds/IreneADonovan
Summary: Years later and far from home, Magda reconnects with two boys from her youth...





	Love Is Love (Love Is Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JackyJango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Bits and Bobs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14731299) by [JackyJango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/pseuds/JackyJango). 
  * In response to a prompt by [JackyJango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/pseuds/JackyJango) in the [xmen_remix_madness2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmen_remix_madness2018) collection. 



Magda almost didn't recognize them, they'd changed so much. When last she had seen them, on the day before she'd left her hometown for good, they'd both been gangly, awkward adolescents, as she herself had been.

She hadn't known them, not really, though they'd shared that peculiar kinship of outcasts in a small town.

She'd been shunned because of her Roma heritage, the townsfolk suspicious of her family because if the reputation of “gypsies.”

Charles had been shunned because he made people uncomfortable. He was awkward, rarely spoke, and when he did, his words were often a non sequitur. She knew now he was almost certainly autistic, though then none of the townspeople had known or cared. Nor had his family. They were rich, living in the mansion at the top of the hill, and they saw him as little more than an embarrassment, a threat to their social standing, and they largely ignored him. Except for his little sister, who clearly adored him.

Erik was deaf, had been so since birth, and he didn't speak. He could sign fluently, though none of the townsfolk (herself included, she was ashamed to admit) had made the effort to learn his language. He'd relied on his mother to interpret for him, but she had died when he was sixteen.

Erik had gone off the rails after her death, earned a reputation as a troublemaker, always ready for a fight. Magda understood now he'd been lost and in pain, alone and unable to communicate. Then she'd been young and too wrapped up in her own troubles to really notice, though she had nursed a crush on the brooding, enigmatic boy.

Only Charles had found a way to connect with him, and the unlikely pair became inseparable. Erik became Charles' protector, his defender, his champion in jeans and a leather jacket. And Charles learned to communicate with Erik, even to interpret for him in his own awkward way.

But then ugly rumors had began to spread, rumors that they were doing “unnatural things” to each other. A mob of “concerned citizens” had beaten Erik up (presuming Charles too stupid to be complicit in all the “wrong” things Erik was – allegedly – doing to him), and run Erik out of town.

Charles had disappeared a few hours later, presumably gone to find Erik. No one had seemed to care if he'd found him. Indeed, most people figured he'd gotten lost in the woods and died in the night.

She herself had left the next day, no longer able to stomach all the small-town hypocrisies. Her mother had pleaded, her father had threatened, but she would not be dissuaded. She'd packed a suitcase and left.

She'd always wondered what had happened to these two who had helped her find the will to leave. And now they stood together in her checkout line, still together. And looking damned happy.

Erik no longer carried the anger of his youth, his posture relaxed and open. His body was still lean, but had acquired some solidity in maturity. His auburn hair was cut shorter now, and a neatly-trimmed beard framed his jaw. He grinned as he spoke to Charles, hands flashing, grey-blue eyes twinkling.

Charles' face retained a certain boyishness, but he, too, was clearly no longer a child. As he signed, Magda noticed a ring, then spotted its twin on Erik. Good for them.

Most amazing, though, were the blue eyes that stared raptly into Erik's eyes. He'd never been able to meet someone's gaze before.

And still had trouble, except with Erik, she learned as the pair stepped up to take their turn in line. His gaze met hers for an instant, then skittered away.

Erik set a hand on the back of Charles' neck, reassuring him, and Charles looked up again.

Magda began ringing them up, asking quietly, “Do you remember me? We grew up together.”

Charles looked to Erik, signed something. Erik nodded, signed back, flashed her a smile.

“Magda,” Charles said, eyes on Erik's hands. “He remembers. Me, too.”

“It's good to see you.”

Erik signed; Charles spoke.“Good to see you, too.”

“You look good together,” she said. “You always did.”


End file.
